Exchangeable concentrate container for beverage dispensing machines

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for dispensing a liquid beverage concentrate comprises a  concente reservoir, a resilient dispensing tube having one end in communication with the reservoir via a non-return valve opening into the tube and having an opposite dispensing end provided with a non-return valve opening outwardly, and a pressure fluid device for squeezing a portion of the dispensing tube so as to force a quantity of concentrate through the dispensing end of the tube, the pressure fluid device including a deformable sleeve loosely fitting over the tube and separating the tube from the pressure fluid.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 930,538 filed Aug. 2,1978, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND

In beverage vending-machines a small quantity of concentrate isdispensed which is diluted to normal utilization strength. Beveragevending-machines are used for instance for coffee, tea, chocolate andsoft drinks. The concentrates are diluted, according to the beverage inquestion, with a 3-50 fold quantity of water. Normally it concerns thedispensing of a quantity of concentrate which may vary from a few to afew dozens of milliliters. A concentrate container in the conventionalcommercial apparatuses, which form part of the vending-machine, isfilled with concentrate. From said container a quantity of concentrateis dispensed via a dispensing device associated with thevending-machine.

Several drawbacks are connected therewith. In the first place theconcentrate is intensively contacted with air supplied from outside,easily resulting in microbiological contamination. The contact with theair has moreover the drawback that accelerated aging may occur, sincemany of the concentrates in question are sensitive to oxygen. A seconddrawback is that the concentrate comes into contact with various partsof the machine. These parts will thereby be contaminated to a minor ormajor extent, in that rests of extract will remain. It is thereforenecessary that these parts are periodically cleaned and, if necessary,disinfected. This procedure is very timeconsuming in general and canonly be performed by skilled operators.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns an exchangeable container for beveragedispensing machines characterized in that the container comprises areservoir for beverage concentrate and a non-disconnectible dispensingportion fixedly connected to the reservoir. By exchangeable is meantthat the container can be removed from a dispensing machine andexchanged for another container.

This arrangement enables to maintain concentrates which have beenprovided in the factory with an aseptical or sterile package, in thisstate till the moment of dispensing.

A practical embodiment for instance is the one wherein a solid resilienthose is used as a dispensing portion. This hose, which is filled withconcentrate, might for instance be squeezed empty by a peristaltic typeof pump or a finger pump. The rolls of the peristaltic type of pump orthe fingers of the finger pump ensure alternately that the concentratein the container is permanently shut off from the outside air. Besides ahose, naturally also a differently formed space provided with aresilient wall may be used. By making the reservoir of such deformablematerial, that upon withdrawal of the concentrate from the reservoirthere is produced a reduction of volume of the reservoir that is equalto the volume of the withdrawn concentrate, it will not be necessary tovent the reservoir. Rigid reservoirs, provided with a venting device arealso possible naturally, but then in case of non-self-conservingextracts there is required a provision for admitting purified, filteredair (see e.g. Swiss Pat. No. 414977).

In order to avoid drying out and/or tails of concentrate from thatsection of the dispensing portion which is in contact with the outsideair (the section underneath the sealing through the pump body), thebottom of the dispensing portion may be provided with a constriction oran outwardly opening valve.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic elevational view of a dispensing apparatusembodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic elevational view, partly in section, of asecond embodiment of a dispensing apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic elevational view, partly in section, of adispensing machine which includes a dispensing apparatus as shown inFIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view of a modified embodiment similar to FIG. 2;and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a transportable unit which includes areservoir and a dispensing device.

A diagrammatic picture of a possible embodiment is shown in FIG. 1. By(1) is indicated a reservoir that is easily deformable through theinfluence of atmospheric pressure, which is provided at the top with asuspension device (2). The reservoir may e.g. be made of food-gradepolyethylene. At the bottom of the reservoir (1), fixedly connected tothe reservoir, there is attached a solid resilient tube (3), which tubemay be made of food-grade silicon hose, having a wall thickness of 2 mm.The resilient tube (3) is flat at the bottom. This flatened portion (4)functions as non-return valve, ensuring that the concentrate in the tubeis not in contact with air. At the one side the hose is pressed againsta block (5), which block (5) on the one end has the function of a seatfor the peristaltic type of pump (6), while on the other end it is aportion of the retaining device for the resilient tube. The otherportion of said retaining device is formed by the supporting body (7)fixed via a frame to the peristaltic type of pump. Said frame is notshown on the drawing. The block (5) is attached via a guide (8) to thesame frame and is fixed by means of a snap slot, (not shown on thedrawing), relative to the peristaltic type of pump (6) and thesupporting body (7).

To enable insertion of the resilient tube (3), the block (5) may bedisplaced along the guide a few centimeters to the left.

By rotating the peristaltic type of pump during a specific period oftime at a fixed speed, there is obtained a properly reproducible dosingthat is independent of the viscosity of the concentrate. When anotherquantity is to be dosed, this can be realized by varying the dosingtime.

Another embodiment is that wherein use is made of an exchangeablecontainer for the concentrate, consisting of a reservoir that is easilycompressible under influence of atmospheric pressure, coupled to atubular dispensing portion of solid resilient material, which isseparated at the one end of the reservoir by a valve opening into thedispensing portion and at the other, free end being provided with anoutwardly opening valve. Reservoir and tubular dispensing portion areintegral.

The tubular dispensing portion is then pushed in the collapsible tubeloosely fitting therearound, about which there is present a pressuretransmitting fluid.

The reservoir for the concentrate may naturally also be of rigid designand/or be interchangeable relative to the tubular dispensing portion,but then, in case of non-self-conserving extracts, a provision isrequired to admit purified filtered air (see for instance Swiss Pat. No.414977).

FIG. 2 shows this embodiment in cross-section. By (9) is indicated theeasily deformable reservoir of the exchangeable container which isprovided at the top with a suspension device (10), at (11) is indicatedthe rigid neck of the container. The reservoir may for instance be madeof food-grade polyethelene, the rigid neck for instance of solidpolyester. About the narrowed portion (12) of the neck there isoverturned a flat resilient hose (13). The lower flat portion functionsas non-return valve. Said resilient hose may for instance be made offood-grade latex having a wall thickness of e.g. approximately 1 mm.About the widened portion of the neck (11) is fitting a tube (14) ofsolid resilient material. Said tube may for instance be made offood-grade silicon hose ("Phyton" hose had been found suitable interalia), having a wall thickness of e.g. approximately 2 mm. The tube (14)is provided at the bottom with a synthetic cap (15) (e.g. polyester),whereabout is pushed a thin resilient piece of hose (16). The valveeffect of the cap (15) and the hose (16) is obtained in that a centralbore (17) communicates with a plurality of radial bores (18), while theopenings of said bores (18) are closed by the thin, resilient piece ofhose (16) which is clamped about the lower portion of the cap (15). Thehose (16) may for instance be made of food-grade latex and have a wallthickness of 0.1 mm.

The tube (14) is slidable in the collapsible tube (19) made for instanceof silicon hose having a wall thickness of e.g. approximately 3 mm. Thetube (19) is mounted in the cylindrical metal housing (20). For mountingthe tube (19) in the housing (20) function the thin metal sleeves (21)and (22). The annular collars (23) and (24), attached through bolts tothe housing (20), function for retaining the sleeves (21) and (22). Themetal housing with the collapsible tube mounted therein are integralwith the beverage dispensing machine, and constitute an apparatus forsqueezing the tubular dispensing portion tight by means of anomnilaterally exerting fluid pressure.

The pressure transmitting fluid may be liquid or gas. In this embodimentwater is chosen as pressure transmitting fluid.

The space for the pressure fluid (25) remaining in the housing (20)between the outer wall of the housing (20) and the collapsible tube (19)is in communication via pipe (26) with a three-way cock, as shown inFIG. 3.

FIG. 3 shows at (27) a magnetically operated three-way cock (mark"Lucifer," Geneva, type 131A04). In the rest position the pipe (26) isin communication with pipe (28). In case the dispensing machine is putinto operation, the pipe (26) is in communication for a short period oftime with pipe (29) which in turn is in communication with the watersupply system. The operation of the three-way cock is effected forexample by means of a time relay, as normally present in beveragedispensing machines. During said short period the pipe (19) and as aresult also pipe (14) is squeezed tight by the water pressure, therebyimparting a flat shape to the tubes (19) and (14) while substantiallyall concentrate being present within the tube (14) is forced out via thelower valve extensively discussed in FIG. 2.

The concentrate arrives via funnel (30) in the drinking cup, not shown.After the dispensing of the concentrate the pipe (26) is again put incommunication through the three-way cock (27) with the pipe (28). Theresilient tubes (14) and (19) resume their original round shape,allowing a quantity of water equal to the dispensed quantity ofconcentrate to be squirted from the narrow opening (31) of the tube (28)into the funnel (30). This water washes away any concentrate adhering tothe lower valve. Dispensing of the dilution water is conventionallyeffected via the supply pipe (32).

With the apparatus according to the invention, as described in theabove, a high accuracy and reproducibility can be achieved. It was foundthat when use was made of resilient tubes (14) and (19) of e.g. phytonsilicon and tygon having inner diameters varying from 8-25 mm and wallthicknesses varying from 2-4 mm, that at an excess pressure of the watersupply system of more than 1 atmosphere already a substantially maximalexpulsion of the concentrate was obtained. This means that increase ofthe pressure has practically no influence on the dosing quantity. Sincethe excess pressures in water supply systems normally vary between 1.5and 6 atmosphere, it appears that practically the same dosage isobtained everywhere.

Extensive reproducibility tests have been carried out with thisembodiment in two dispensing quantities (8 and 20 cc). In the firstplace the relative accuracy of both dispensing quantities appeared to beequally large.

The reproducibility for one specific type of liquid, expressed by thevariation coefficient in a large series of tests was found to be1-11/2%. It also appeared that the dispensing accuracy was hardlysensitive to viscosity differences. Six liquids having viscositiesranging from 1-200 centipoise were measured. These liquids were: coffeeextract, tea extract (both of two different types), chocolate beverageconcentrate and orange concentrate. Some of these liquids were stronglygelled, while the orange concentrate contained flesh. The overallvariation coefficient found during these tests (calculated from thedeviations of the individual dosages relative to average dosage of alldifferent extracts together) was 2.8%.

In certain cases it may be important to make the dispensing quantityslightly adjustable. An apparatus allowing to do this is shown in FIG.4, which represents the bottom of a type of apparatus which wasdiscussed in FIG. 2, and which represents partly a cross-section andpartly a view. By (19) again is indicated the outer collapsible tube andby (14) the inner resilient tube. The retaining sleeve (33) (in thisembodiment replacing the sleeve (22) in FIG. 2) is provided at theinside with a fine thread. A nipple (34) is screwable in said retainingsleeve (33), to which nipple is fixedly connected an externally knurledhead (35). By screwing the nipple in or out the squeezable portion ofhose (19) and as a result of (14) may be varied.

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a filled exchangeable containerconsisting of a thin-walled plastic reservoir (36) and theinterconnected resilient tube having valves (37) suitable for a dosageof 7 cc. This tube with valves has numerals (11)-(18) in FIG. 2. Thesuspension device can be seen at (38). To facilitate transport the tube(37) is tilted up against reservoir (36) and retained in place by theband (39) which is removed when the container is positioned in thebeverage dispensing machine. In its entirety a reservoir of 1 dm³ withdispensing device has maximal dimensions of 20×12×5.5 cm duringtransport.

We claim:
 1. An apparatus for storing and transporting coffeeconcentrate and dispensing increments of the concentrate comprising:anexchangeable disposable dispensing unit including a reservoir containingcoffee concentrate and having a rigid neck with an open end defining anoutlet, means on the open end forming a first non-return valve, an innercollapsible tube disposed about said neck and forming with saidreservoir an integral unit for receiving concentrate from said reservoirvia said first non-return valve, said tube extending longitudinally andbeing of resiliency so as to be collapsible, and a one-way outwardlyopening valve on the free end of said inner tube, means for dispensing ametered amount of concentrate including an outer collapsible tubedisposed about said inner tube, a housing mounted about said tubes andspaced from said outer tube to form an annular space, and a pipe forsupplying fluid to said space at a pressure in the range of 1-6atomospheres to collapse said tube and dispense an increment ofconcentrate wherein said increment does not vary in volume with furtherincreases in pressure.